Moving to a pack without pockets, a top compartment, and a sleeping bag compartment was kind of tough at first. I felt like completely unorganized. My first pack like this is the Vapor Trail. Now I am looking at moving to either the ULA Ohm or the GG MariposaPlus but I am kind of worried that my stuff won't fit like it does in the Vapor Trail. When I purchased the Vapor Trail I actually took my stuff all down to REI and loaded up a pack. (I even put some rocks in my bear cannister).

Now, as I mentioned, I am vacillating between the Ohm and the MariposaPlus. They both are about 3500-3600 cu in and they both weigh about 25-26oz. I notice that the total volume also includes the side/front pockets. I normally use the front/side pockets for essentials that you need to access on the trail but I like everything else to be inside the main body of the pack. I don't like to strap items on the outside if it can be helped. Would the main pack body for the Ohm or MP+ hold a tent, sleeping bag, bear cannister, small amount of clothing and rain gear?

Any opinions are appreciated. By the way, is there some service that rents out these packs?

I have the Mariposa Plus and have been really happy with it. I want to pick up a Gorilla for Summer use as it is almost too big for summer. Gossamer Gear has great Customer Service call Grant and talk to him about it.

BTW: What I don't like about the Ohm, is the hipbelt looks very unsubstantial, and I like all the weight (even if it is 18 pounds) to be on my hips.

The Mariposa does ride better then the Ohm due to the hip belt. I would love it if the Ohm had a more substantial hip belt. I agree, even with a light weight summer load the pack feels a little unstable.

If I were you, I'd be considering the Ohm vs. the Gorilla. The Gorilla is more versatile since the frame, waist belt and sternum strap are all removable, but the Ohm is a few ounces lighter if you compare it to the Gorilla with all it's pieces. For me, I'd rather have the Gorilla for UL weekends (in 15oz mode) and the Ohm for weeklong trips (21oz).

"Would the main pack body for the Ohm or MP+ hold a tent, sleeping bag, bear cannister, small amount of clothing and rain gear?"

A lot would depend on how big a tent, how much food, and how big a bear canister. I trial packed my Ohm with 8 days of food in an Ursack(with insert), plus all my other gear, with plenty of room to spare. Caveat: I store my raingear in the front mesh pocket where I can get at it quickly and my Rainbow gets strapped to the top when I am using a tent because I don't like removing the strut. Still, if you have something like a Contrail, you should be able to get it in the pack, unless you are using a monster canister like a Garcia or Bearikade Expedition. I can't comment on larger diameter canisters, but my sense from packing the Ursack(8" in diameter x 12" high) is that a Bearikade Weekender(9" x 10") should fit just fine and leave even more room for a small tent.

Anyone out there with experience packing a Weekender into an Ohm to confirm or deny my sense of it?

My typical load slightly underfilled the main body of the GGVT. I didn't really used the pockets or lash anything on to the outside. Didn't use the extension collar. I found that the Ohm and the Gorilla were both well matched for my load… though the weekender produced a visible lump but didn't effect carry comfort. This summer has been mostly shorter trips where I used a bearvault solo which fit better.

The Gorilla and the Mariposa Plus use the same suspension. The Hipbelt, Sternum Strap, etc are all removable on the Mariposa Plus as well.

Also note that the Gorilla and Mariposa Plus weights include a SitLite pad (included) so if you carry a sit pad anyways or want to use your sleeping pad instead you could drop that weight from the "pack".

"BTW: What I don't like about the Ohm, is the hipbelt looks very unsubstantial, and I like all the weight (even if it is 18 pounds) to be on my hips."

Brad,

Looks can be deceiving. I have been using the Ohm for 8 months now, both training and in the backcountry, with loads up to 32#. At the high end of the load range it has been a bit uncomfortable as design specs were pushed and exceeded but, at all times, the load has been on squarely my hips and comfortably so up to 25#.

Dan, I went to the ULA site and selected "Order" for the Ohm. It starts out at 24oz then, if you select large, it changes it to 25oz. If you any extras it goes up from there.

The Gorilla is smaller but it is listed as being heavier than the MP+ on the GG site. For instance, MP+ large is 3600 cu in @23.8oz and the Gorilla is 2800 cu in @24.2oz. What is the advantage of the Gorilla?

Whats amazing to me is that even after changing my pack (25oz), my bag (19oz), and renting the Bearikade (31) I will still be at a base weight of 14 lbs. I think you guys are down to 11 lbs or lower! It's the tarp tents I am sure!

"The Gorilla is smaller but it is listed as being heavier than the MP+ on the GG site. For instance, MP+ large is 3600 cu in @23.8oz and the Gorilla is 2800 cu in @24.2oz. What is the advantage of the Gorilla?"

The Gorilla uses a heavier duty 210 denier fabric (the Mariposa Plus is 70D) for the pack body

"Whats amazing to me is that even after changing my pack (25oz), my bag (19oz), and renting the Bearikade (31) I will still be at a base weight of 14 lbs. I think you guys are down to 11 lbs or lower! It's the tarp tents I am sure!"

You would be surprised at how much of the weight savings is in the little things.

My packing system was a 30inch piece of 3/8 foam coiled inside the pack. My 15 degree down bag was stuffed into the pack with no stuff sack. Bearikade Weekender on top of the bag. Small Neoair folded and stuffed alongside the bearikade on one side, rain jacket stuffed down the other side. 10 liter Stuffsack with extra clothes on top of the bearikade along with cook-kit and a few other items. I still had some room in the extension collar with this gear. Base weight before camera gear was 13lbs.

I decided to bring my 3lb tripod last minute as well ;) Strapped it to one side under the compression system and kept my water on the other side.

My max load after re-supply was probably 35lbs which was a little much for the pack. I don't have much of a rear-end to hold the pack up so I did have to shift it up every so often to take some weight off my shoulders and adjust the hip belt and shoulder straps throughout the days until my food load lightened up. A patch of grippy fabric at the base of the backpanel would help for my body type.

The pack was very comfortable for the majority of the trip. I wouldn't say the strain on my shoulders was more than with other packs on long trips I have done. My shoulders may be less sensitive to this than others. I would say a max load of 30 lbs is right for this pack.

+1 for the Meriposa plus. I've been very happy with mine, it can hold much more than I usually need for long trips, carries very well and I personally like the sternum straps and weight belt. I've added the shoulder strap pockets for carrying small items/snacks/GPS or PLB and they are a great addition.

+1 for the ULA Ohm. If I carry my tent, a Scarp 1, inside the bag, there is still plenty of space for my mat (NeoAir as a back pad, works excellent), clothes, cooking gear and food, and I reckon a canister should fit in without problems (we don't use them in Europe). Rain gear is rolled up and in the outside front pocket, water in the side pockets.

My Large Ohm w/ Medium belt and hand loops + hipbelt pockets weights 23.3 ounce (660 g). I can't comment on the GG packs, but only read good stuff about them and their customer service – which is equally excellent at ULA, my pack needed four days from the US to Finland!